Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows

It's good to report some TV news involving a canceled show that's actually good. Last June we gave you the news that 'Primeval,' the show where a team of scientists battles monsters coming through some sort of portal, wasn't going to be renewed for another season. Well, forget about all that because the show is coming back in 2011.

The web site for the show says that the show will be able to come back for 13 new episodes next year because of a "unique international collaboration." Which I'm guessing means that various companies from various countries are putting some money behind the series.

I like how the official site not only says that the show is coming back but that they're still going to have great special effects. So the monsters won't be hand puppets or people in suits a la Godzilla.

Last week's 100th episode was a tough act to follow. We couldn't expect an episode as action packed as 'Implosion' was this week but we were given spooky episode that, even if somewhat a "filler episode" because we didn't learn a lot of new tidbits about the Shadows, helped push the issue about the Shadows and them wanting children a bit further.

'Old Sins Cast Long Shadows' was yet another rather dark episode of the series this season. Madame Greta looked so spooky and scary that I'm glad I forgot to record the episode on Friday so I couldn't watch it on my return around 11 p.m. and had to watch the episode online during the day (which is why my review is late as I had to wait for it to be online). Yes, I scare that easy.

(S05E15) "Wow! It must be really really interesting to be you." - Delia to Melinda

It may be interesting to be Melinda, but it's also scary, stressful and demanding. Melinda's gift does allow her to help people, but it also comes with a price. This week's milestone episode put Melinda and co. in grave danger, and one important character died in the end.

Jennifer Love Hewitt directed this week's installment, which is the show's 100th episode. She did a very good job, especially for such an action-pack and Shadow-heavy episode. Bravo!

Syfy has sent out a sneak peek of Marsters' 'Caprica' debut, which features a grim-faced Barnabus talking to one of his followers and wrapping his arm in (yikes!) barbed wire:

Marsters is set to appear in five episodes of 'Caprica' this season. During a conference call with news outlets this week, he said the door was left open for his character to come back and possibly cause some more havoc for 'Caprica's V-club addicted, polytheistic ladies and gents.

Fans awaiting 'Tron Legacy', the upcoming 3D sequel to the 1982 cult flick, have already gotten a taste of the studio's elaborate viral marketing campaign for the film. Thanks to positive fan reaction to the campaign and the movie's teaser trailer, Disney is prepping a big merchandising push and new theme park attractions for the (surprisingly) hot 28-year-old sci-fi franchise.

The show is based on George R. R. Martin's best-selling 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novels, which, admittedly, I have never read. Still, I'm excited about the possibilities for this series. HBO did family drama right ('Six Feet Under'), reinvented the Western ('Deadwood'), gave us a wonderfully quirky vampire show ('True Blood'), and the greatest police drama of all time ('The Wire'). I can't wait to see what an epic HBO fantasy series will look like.

The show stars 'Shield' and 'Fantastic Four' vet Michael Chiklis as the head of a super-powered family. Benz will co-star as Chiklis' wife, a sexy scientist who develops super speed (the power, not the drug).

Despite the drab title, 'No Ordinary Family' is shaping up to be a must-see. Chiklis and Benz are two of TV's top actors, and the pilot is the brainchild of producer Greg Berlanti, a guy who knows a thing or two about creating compelling family drama (see 'Everwood', 'Dirty Sexy Money', 'Brothers & Sisters').

Too young to remember Matt Frewer's babbling blonde digital hipster? Allow me to play professor: In the mid-'80s, Frewer (you know, that guy) played a strange, spastic (and sarcastic) computer-animated Coca Cola pitchman and music video host that lived inside of your TV. He frightened young children and hypnotized susceptible nerds into guzzling Coke by the gallon.

Perhaps as a meta-comment on his own existence, his creators produced an insane cyberpunk TV movie starring Max that satirized TV marketing, the media, politics, and everything else worth satirizing.

(S01E05) Like 'Battlestar Galactica' before, 'Caprica' has a wonderful way of continuing storylines with constantly changing characters. This episode was great at keeping one's attention, despite the noticeable absence of Lacy Rand and Sister Clarice (and the actors playing them).

First, we have Joseph Adama having trouble connecting with his son, who is on the road to hooliganism as a result. In order to relate to his son, Adama must do what he has been avoiding since the series began: embrace his ethnicity. There is definitely some Italian in the Tauron culture (or rather, the Tauron culture will lead to some of the Italian culture). The use of coins during the memorial service echoes some of the practices of the ancient Romans.

Director Roland Emmerich, known to some as Michael Bay's top rival in the "who can make the crappiest blockbuster?" contest, says a TV series based on his latest movie, '2012', has been shelved.

Speaking to Movieweb, Emmerich said budget constraints have halted pre-production on the show, which would have served as a direct follow-up to his special effects-heavy disaster flick. The series was described as being similar in theme to 'Lost'. The plot would have followed survivors of the events depicted in the movie attempting to rebuild in Africa.

(S01E04) We've now learned a little bit more about the culture of the planet Caprica before the fall. For one thing, drugs were legal. For another, their version of the Internet was owned by one company. That is, until now.

One of the more interesting aspects of the series is its use of anachronisms. The hats that some of the male characters were wearing were something out of a noir film of the 1940's. They also use standard cell phones, yet can transmit data on a piece of digital paper that makes the upcoming Apple iPad look like a stone tablet. The story of the Adamas reads like a high-tech version of 'The Godfather' or 'The Sopranos.' Obviously, Bill would inherit his later strong moral tendencies from his father.

Way back in 2006 (cue the blurry flashback) we told you that Syfy had picked up a twelve-hour science fiction mini-series from Steven Spielberg titled 'Nine Lives.' Well, nothing ever came of that on Syfy (back when it was called Sci-Fi - cue the blurry flashback again), but now it looks like it's going to be on TV after all, only on another network.

The Hollywood Reporter says that NBC might pick up the show. It all depends on whether or not they like the new script, which is being written by Les Bohem. It's about people who unleash something evil when they try to reunite with family members who have died. That might sound slightly similar to 'Ghost Whisperer' or 'Medium' but it sounds more epic, likes there's something bigger to the overall plot than standalone episodes.

Olmos' passion for the film was obvious during a press conference with city officials. Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to ask him a few questions about one of his other passion projects, and one of my favorite shows of all time, 'Battlestar Galactica'.

We talked a little about the show's legacy, his initial thoughts on 'Caprica' and what he thinks about that planned 'Battlestar' movie project from director Bryan Singer and producer Glen Larson.